Texas A&M Aggies Football Tickets

A&M took a streak of 20 consecutive non-losing years into Dennis Franchione's first season in 2003. Franchione did inherit just 11 returning starters (fewest B12) and the team had to learn new schemes. I pegged them to finish 5th in the Big 12 South but A&M struggled even more than expected as the D allowed 38.8 ppg, more than double that of a normal Wrecking Crew defense. The team suffered its first 8-loss season since 1972. In 20041 pointed out the Aggies were -11 in turnovers in 2003 and called A&M the NCAA's most improved team. The Aggies at one point stood 6-1 but faded down the stretch finishing just 7-5 (3rd B12 South) vs the 4th toughest schedule in the country. The 5th loss was a disappointing Cotton Bowl performance. The defense was a major problem for the Aggies again last year and in fact, allowed a school record 443.8 ypg. Amazingly, the Aggies held Vince Young to his worst game of the year (162 pass, 19 rush) after allowing much weaker QB's career highs on a seemingly weekly basis. They did have 18 scholarship seniors last year, the most yet under Fran, but Clemson hit a FG with :02 left knocking off the #17 Aggies in the opener. The Aggies did have a 5-2 start before the bottom fell out. They were embarrassed at home by ISU 42-14 and then suffered the biggest loss in the series history vs TTech 56-17. They did lead National Champ Texas 22-21 in the 2H but came up short and finished 5-6 and are now 16-19 in 35 games under Coach Fran. While the Aggies return seven starters on offense, they must replace their magical QB Reggie McNeal and probably won't match the 32 ppg they had last year which was their best since the 1997 season. I'll make the same observation I did in 2004, which is the defensive unit has far too much athletic talent to fare as poorly as it did in 2005 and should be much improved. Much like 2004, the Aggies make my list of most improved teams (#13) in the country which means they'll be back to a winning season and a bowl.

Texas A&M Aggies Football 2006 Schedule